Snore
by KyuuinShinkei
Summary: Natsu snores, which leads to...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **I spend more time cancelling the double spaces from my word document than writing the actual story (Of course not)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.**

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It was a typical, average day in Fairy Tail, and I, the blonde stellar spirit mage, Lucy, am once again… **jobless.** No, it isn't because I am completely useless, although I really am at times, and it isn't because I am incompetent, although I also really am at times. Either way, I am horrendously bored.

Of course, my team members could not find a good job to go on either. So, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and I are left stranded around an island, which in fact, is a round, wooden table in the large guild.

"Let's just go on any job!" I smiled happily; only to receive boring looks and sweat-drops from my fellow friends. "Perhaps not…" Sometimes I wonder if they really enjoy jobs as much as I do.

Natsu sighed and slammed his head onto the table, "I'm going to sleep," and he brought his head up towards me, "Don't disturb me." Then, slammed his head onto the table again.

"Sheesh, what a heated up guy." I said, rolling my eyes, "I wonder if it hurts to hit the table."

Immediately, Gray slammed his head onto the table, "Yes, it does." And then, I just realized that maybe Natsu wasn't the stupidest among them. Who'd be so stupid to actually try it out?!

Erza, the well-composed knight in shining armor, who was sitting beside the dragon slayer, just stared off into empty space. I hardly see her like that, and I think it has to do with Gray not putting on his shirt, and to avoid looking at him, she stares off into space! Yes, that must be the reason.

All of a sudden, a loud rumbling, gurgling sound emitted from the sleeping Natsu. I stared at him in disbelief, "Didn't you know he snores?" Erza said, her proud figure never failing to gain my admiration.

Shaking my head innocently, I peered at Natsu, whose head was now turned so his left check lay on the table, and so he was facing Erza.

The sound came regularly, breath my breath, since when did Natsu **_snore?!_**

"Gosh, this is so annoying." Gray said, rolled his eyes, and slapped Natsu on the back, "Stop snoring, you bastard."

Glaring back at Gray, Natsu looked as if he was about to shout back at him, before realizing Erza was looking his way. Immediately, he fell back to sleep, resulting in a terribly shocked Gray, and an equally surprised me. Obviously, the horrible and ear-splattering snoring continued. I am starting to feel so peculiar about this situation; Erza probably wasn't staring or glaring at Natsu, so why did he let Gray win the argument?

Oh well, it probably was for his own safety, considering the fact that Erza was the formidable and invincible **Erza**.

And to my increasing surprise, Erza seems hellishly silent, not only did she not speak up, she kept shooting glances at sleeping Natsu, and never once complained about his snoring.

Peculiar it was, totally atypical and abnormal. Anyway, _SINCE WHEN DID NATSU SNORE?!_

"Hey…" I groaned, breaking the silence, "Does Natsu really snore?" Gray and Erza looked at me, before both of them nodded at the same time, glared at each other for unnoticeable reasons, and looked back at me.

"I don't remember him snoring last time…" I stated, the snoring sound slowly getting absorbed into my ears, meaning I'm starting to get used to the pig-like sound.

"I mean, I've never heard Natsu snoring before!" I exclaimed, raising my two hands as if it was an unbelievable thing, although Natsu _is_ snoring.

"Ignorance is not non-existence." Gray said, smirking and nodding his head; so full of himself!

"How many times do you see him sleep?" Erza said, tipping an eyebrow up as if I was dumb.

"Errr… When we go on jobs, he doesn't usually snore…" It was true; he didn't snore when he was sleeping after saving Erza from the Tower of Paradise.

Somehow, I thought that they didn't hear what I said, before both Erza and Gray burst out laughing, "Then I bet you don't know what Erza did to Natsu the last time he snored during a job…" Gray said, leaving my imagination to feed itself.

Did she beat him up, or dismember him? Slice his hair off? The worst possible thing I could imagine was… perhaps she wrote the word pink hair all over his body!

Erza controlled her laughter for a moment and explained, "Only when we're in front of clients, though. Because he had angered a client with his snores before, and I did _that_ to him."

Gray shivered, "_That…"_

"I mean, don't you all notice that, he never ever snores when he sleeps on your lap, Erza?" I said, sure, it may seem acceptable because Natsu always does strange things, but it still seemed too quirky.

Erza pondered over it for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders and staring off into space again, I wonder if she can see the planets from here. Gray looked as if he was deep in thought, "Maybe he isn't asleep then?" He said, and Erza was shaken back to her senses.

"Why wouldn't he be asleep?" I questioned, somehow, I get a feeling this would turn out badly for Natsu, but it was fun nonetheless, and Gray shot me a smile, signaling to continue.

"Maybe he's taking advantage of Erza's kindness!" Gray said, and Erza seemed to sit up even straighter.

"Don't forget how he smiles when he lies on her lap!"

"Yeah!" Gray supported my words with a huge grin.

Erza was trembling furiously, "So Natsu's just a PERVERT?!"

Poor Natsu, I hope Erza doesn't go too harsh on him. Within moments, both Gray and I were hiding behind a nearby pillar, chuckling over Natsu's presumed death.

Holding him down on the table by the collar, Erza interrogated him like a police officer. And poor blur Natsu didn't know what was happening. As everyone knows, Erza only likes people who answer immediately.

"You weren't asleep all the time?!" Erza shouted. Oh my, the whole guild was watching those two now. While some gave Gray and I some thumbs-up, I still feel kind-of worried for Natsu.

"Erza? You look prettier than usual." Natsu replied groggily, he looked so frail in Erza's hands.

"Now, answer my question, damn it!" Erza yelled to conceal her blush. Gripping Natsu's checkered scarf even harder.

"Huh?"

Erza noticed the crowd looking, but that didn't matter to her, "I asked whether you were always awake when I let you lie on my lap!"

"Nope, not at all." He replied, it seems the sleepiness had left him already. "Is it a crime to stay awake?"

"You pervert! I'm never going to be nice to you anymore!"

Natsu blinked once, and she stomped off away from Natsu. Well, I walked towards Natsu, trying to explain to him what happened and how I didn't believe that he snored when he slept, but he seemed oblivious to everyone else and kept staring off at the direction at which Erza went.

Gray pulled be back, shaking his head in a no-no so that I don't disturb him. Natsu looked liked a zombie as his feet instinctively brought him forward, one step at a time, his arms slugged by his sides and his back curved forward like a hunchback, it was then when I realized that he was feeling sad.

Natsu sniffed around the air, walking about with dragged feet, trying to find Erza. I felt a sudden sense of curiosity and decided to follow him secretly, and Gray was behind me all along. The whole guild had returned to doing their activities, and Natsu continued to sniff his way.

He headed out of the guild, all the while sniffing like a dog—a dragon, and headed over to a patch of grass situated a few meters away from the back door.

"I never knew there was such a place." I whispered to Gray.

"Neither did I." he replied.

The both of us hide behind the corner while Natsu strode over and sat down beside Erza, stretching his arms out behind him to support himself.

"I'm sorry." We heard Natsu tell her softly.

"It's okay," Erza replied, while the two of them avoided eye contact, "Now that I think about it, I always knew that you weren't so innocent."

"It's not that!" Natsu said, "I'm not a pervert like Gray!"

I could feel the veins on Gray's forehead pop out, "I just…"

"You just what?" Erza questioned, and this time, she turned towards a red-faced Natsu. "Are you feverish?

"Nope," Natsu replied a little too quickly, "Not at all."

He stuttered and stammered, "It-t's p-probably th-the fire t-that I ate."

"Oh." She said, not wanting to dwell on it further. "I always thought I knocked you unconscious before letting you lay on my lap."

"I don't get knocked unconscious so easily, and why do you have to punch my stomach all the time?" Natsu scowled, "It hurts, you know."

"I always thought you would hate me if I did that without your consent. You would, right?"

"Of course not! I mean, if it's you…"

I grinned, this was getting hilarious, I finally understand what's going on.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She countered, "I'm sure if it's Lucy—"

"I don't want to lie on Lucy's lap!" He yelled, and Erza looked at him with huge eyes, "I… err… that wasn't what I meant."

"What's wrong? You're almost never like that."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Natsu said and grinned, "As long as you aren't angry anymore."

"Mm." She responded, it wasn't much of a response though, and the two fell into silence till sunset, which was when my stomach growled, almost too loudly, and Gray and I decided it was a waste of time to watch any longer.

We headed back into the guild, "Hey, so… Natsu likes Erza?" I asked Gray.

"HE DOES?!" He screamed. My goodness, it appears Gray really is stupider than Natsu.

"Wasn't it obvious enough? I've never seen him so flustered before!"

"That's probably because he doesn't want to get killed by Erza." Gray hinted, "Maybe he wants to win her over so that she'll side him when we quarrel!"

Scowling and grimacing, I decided it was futile to discuss it with someone like Gray. Not long later, Erza returned to the guild, and as if nothing had happened, ate merrily and heartily with us once more. The only thing was: Natsu was not back yet.

"Hey Erza, do you know where Natsu went?" Gray spoke up, he noticed as well! Amazing!

"No idea, who cares about that pervert?" Erza glared, "Don't tell me you do?"

It was more of a threat than a question, and Gray sat back down like a puppy and wriggled his head.

"I think I'm going to head outside for a little while, fresh air." I said, and Erza looked at me with an indescribable kind of look, the Erza-look.

As I headed outside, the sky was already dark, and Natsu was still lying down on the grass. I wonder what's wrong.

Natsu noticed me walking toward him and smiled, hollering me over. "The stars are so beautiful at night, right?"

"Yes they are."

"Aren't you with the others?" He said. "I mean, Erza." He paused for a moment, "And Gray."

"Yep I was, but I noticed that you were missing and found you here!"

"Wow, you got a good nose!"

"Who said I tracked you by smell, you smelly dragon!" I replied, seriously, which idiot would say such stupid things?

"Do I really stink?"

"Of course not."

"Ahhh, that's a relief." He sighed in relief.

"What's wrong, it isn't like you to be so depressed like that."

"Nothing's wrong!" He said through gritted teeth, "See, I'm happy!"

He gave a poor excuse for a smile as response. Obviously something was troubling him, and he's making it so easy to spot, as if he was crying out to me for comfort.

All of a sudden Natsu seemed so distant, the way he looked into the sky with hurt and tiresome eyes.

"Be honest, Natsu. Can't you tell me what's wrong?" I said, trying to use my cutest puppy dog eyes to plead him.

"Erza was mad at me for some badass reason."

"Oh, that's it? That's quite lame for a reason to get moody, you know."

"Yes, I guess you're right. Since she's not angry anymore!" Natsu smiled a genuine smile, and naturally, I returned the smile.

"Why's she so important to you, huh?" I prodded him for answers, my goal is to make him admit he likes her by tonight!

"Well, I mean, she's Erza right? Everyone loves Erza." And he nodded to himself with a know-it-all contentment. It freaked me out somehow.

"Of course I do, but I mean, I've never seen you so moody before."

"Really?" Natsu chuckled, "Hey, do you have time?"

"What's with that sudden question?" I scowled, was he avoiding the topic? "Of course I do."

"I'll tell you some stuff!" Natsu laughed happily, "Bedtime stories, something like that!"

I nodded my head and arranged myself in a more comfortable position.

"Hmm, I forgot what I wanted to tell you already." Natsu rubbed his chin, boy was he dumb!

"C'mon… You can recall, right?"

"Nope, not at all. I know it had something to do with Erza…" He faded away.

"Bah, Natsu, you're such an idiot!" I reprimanded.

"Oh yeah!" I brightened up along with him, "Erza used to call me an idiot as well!"

"Err… so?"

"I don't know."

I banged my head on a nearby wall imaginatively; seriously, he's so strong and smart during fights, why is he so stupid now?! "So, what's Erza to you?"

"I don't know."

"Stop giving me those I don't know s!"

"Hmm…" Natsu contemplated for a moment, "She's like a big sister, you know? Those strong big sisters which protect their little brothers at all cost."

I nodded, wanting him to go on, "Well, she's nice to everyone, right? But I don't know why most of the men in our guild keep talking bad about her!"

Natsu frowned unhappily and sat up straight, crossing his legs and folding his arms. "They think she's all mean and evil just because she likes to pick on me and that ice weakling."

He started heating up, and soon I was spouting nonsense just to get him to calm down. "So, is that all she is to you?"

"Of course there are still things to talk about!" He said, and chuckled over an unknown reason. "She's a strong big sister, but big sisters are still sisters you know." Natsu nodded to himself once again in self-recognition.

"Sisters are not always strong, and they do wrong things sometimes that hurt others.

This was becoming a complicated conversation, and I hate it when Natsu becomes all complicated and wise-man.

"They do mean things to their little brothers and do wrong things so I have to save her. She's my nakama, right? And nakama save each other." I nodded in agreement. "Nakama love each other." He said with a hint of steel in his voice, now, what do we have here?

I grinned, "So you love her?"

Natsu nodded, "Don't you?"

"I mean, you _love_ her?" I emphasized the word 'love'.

"Yup, a lot." Natsu nodded, his arms still folded.

I ruffled my hair in annoyance, "I mean, _that_ kind of love."

"Huh? You're wasting my time!" Natsu said, before pouting horribly and pushing himself off the ground, "I'm going back in."

"But what about my question!"

"Your problem!" Natsu yelled at me before marching back into the guild. It seems I won't get an answer from him so easily…

But I probably shouldn't tell Erza anything, she'll feel awkward, or maybe even angry and not speak to him anymore. However, if she really had any feelings for him… I would've done a great deed!

There's probably nothing going on between them, he just cares for Erza like every other nakama, and doesn't want to be on bad terms with them! Yeah!

So the night came quickly, and soon, I was asleep in my own bed.

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**A/N: Well, hope you liked it, all my chapters are ready actually.**

**Random Author Question: Who do you think will end up fighting Luxus?**

**1)Mistgun**

**2)Natsu**

**3)Makarov**

**4)Erza**

**5)Others-tell me who!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well, truth is I wrote the whole story out already, and anyway, it's kind of hard to decide how I should end the chapter, since it's all written out in one whole document, lol.**

**Anyway, hope you all like it! **

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Lucy woke up to the loud banging sound on my door, "Lucyyy!!!" Natsu sang, it was terribly annoying to be awoken by such a loud noise.

"Wake up! Erza, Gray and I want to invite you to the beach today!"

"We're going to the beach?" Lucy raised her voice so he could hear her.

"Yes! Make it quick, we'll be waiting at the guild!" Natsu cried out before his footsteps faded away.

After going through the daily routine of taking a shower, brushing her teeth, tidying up her hair and selecting some clothes, Lucy left the rented house.

To her shocking surprise, the cover page to the new edition of Magazine Weekly Sorcerer had her picture on it!

"**Strong, Cool, Beautiful and Smart!"**

"**What other qualities do female mages need?"**

_Wow, I'm going to be famous now! _Lucy thought, but she still admitted that not all the qualities really described her. But now, she can finally have something to show-off about!

Humming a happy tune to no one in particular, Lucy bounced along towards the guild carrying the magazine.

"Lucy! There you are!" Erza called her over towards their usual table.

Natsu and Gray were there as well, glaring at each other and quarreling again. "Hey, you two aren't getting along?" Erza warned, along with her gleaming smile.

And as everyone knows, sometimes, a girl's smile is more deadly than her frown. Lucy brought up the magazine, covering her page except for the heading. "Guess who's on the cover page!"

Gray ruffled through his hair for several moments before shrugging and looking away. Natsu however, made a few constructive guesses, to Lucy's displeasure.

"Queen Elizabeth?!"

"Nope."

"Mira-chan?"

"Nope…"

"Yes! I know who it is!"

"Who?"

"Not telling you! Quick!" Natsu tugged at Lucy's hand, "I'm very sure I'm right."

Lucy was about to give in, when Erza said, "It's you, right?"

"Wow, you're smart, Erza!" Lucy cried, and removed her hand from the cover page. Leaving a smiling Erza, an awe-struck Gray, and an extremely confused Natsu.

"Hey… Erza, how come you look so different in the picture?"

He fiddled around with the cover page and pointed at the hair, "It's blonde, not red!" Next he pointed to the tight shirt, "Erza never ever wears shirts like these." Finally he pointed at the face, "Since when did Erza look so weird?!" Natsu frowned, "This magazine's mysterious!"

"That's not Erza you dumbass! It's me!"

"Huh?"

"Me!!!" Lucy yelled.

"Why are you on the cover page?"

"Why not!" Lucy argued, she was starting to get furious at Natsu already.

"I mean, strong… Maybe you are, a little bit."

"Cool, you are more of the cute kind than a cool kind, right?"

"Beautiful… You aren't beautiful at all!" Lucy slapped his head.

"Smart… Huh? What's that?" Lucy slapped her own head.

"Then why did you think it was Erza?" Gray asked, a humongous grin on his face, leaving a flustered Erza staring at the floor.

"How would I know! You only let me see the heading, so obviously it has to be Erza." Natsu argued. "What would a dumb pervert like you know?"

"What did you say?!" And the two were at it again, but stopped the moment Erza glared their way.

"Hey, Erza, are you sick? You look feverish." Natsu said, tilting his head left and right to examine her.

"I'm fine."

"Maybe the color from your hair got onto your face."

"Don't be stupid!" Lucy butted in, and slapped Natsu on the head.

"Well, let's be off." Erza said, the heat from her face was gone, and she had a huge luggage of items that came from nowhere right beside her.

"Yea!" Lucy cried in agreement, and all of a sudden, Mirajane appeared as well with her own set of belongings.

"Let's go!" She said.

Then, Jubia appeared too, and she brought along her items in her umbrella, and nodded in approval.

Therefore, it seemed like… It was a guild outing! Even Makarov brought his clown hat and some sun lotion!

Soon, the whole guild were in the train towards the beach; it was a secluded beach that had many facilities, and it was all booked for Fairy Tail today. Of course, Natsu, Gray, Erza and Lucy sat together in a cabin, and once again…

Natsu was ill. Initially, he tried to resist it and pretend he was okay, so that he wouldn't get punched in the stomach again. After all, the only time in a vehicle that he didn't feel so sick was when he was lying on Erza's lap.

"You aren't having motion illness?" Lucy asked in a perplexing manner. Natsu replied by shaking his head, which in fact made him even worse.

"Wow…" was Lucy's awestricken reply.

Natsu wasn't feeling good at all. He felt like vomiting, and he felt fortunate that Gray was seated opposite of him, and not Erza. Since she **hated** puke, and he learnt that from personal experience.

The trio were chit-chatting happily, while Natsu was busy trying to control the urge to purge out all his food. No one noticed it though, and the poor invincible Salamander was left 'alone' to fight against his weakness.

Seeing no way out he tapped Erza on the shoulder in hope that she could rid him of the terrible feeling of knocking him out, "Could you knock me out please."

Without a response, Erza punched Natsu in the stomach, but that wasn't enough to make him faint. Yet, Natsu didn't want to trouble Erza anymore, so he bent forward to rest his head on his knees.

"What's that guy doing?" Gray asked, grimacing, "It'll be disgusting if he vomits in front of me."

"Wait till he vomits on you." Lucy said.

Ignoring the bent figure, the trio continued to talk happily, and Lucy noticed something: Natsu wasn't snoring!

"Hey," Lucy whispered, bending forward so Natsu couldn't hear. "He isn't snoring."

"So he isn't sleeping?" Gray asked just as softly.

Erza shook her head silently. Taking the initiative, Erza took Natsu's head gently and lay him on her lap. Automatically, he shifted back into his previous position!

Lucy and Gray's eyes were both bulging out, what's with this weirdo!

Erza was surprised as well, and tried again; only to receive the same result. "Natsu…" Erza growled.

"I'm sorry, don't want to trouble—"_BARF_. "you." And for the first time, Natsu croaked, yes, croaked, like a frog.

However, Erza was persistent, and once again she brought his head to her lap smiling faintly as he accepted her kindness.

Their cabin was silent, Lucy and Gray were freaked out by how pure Natsu's smile was, and Erza was humming a short lullaby tune to help ease Natsu's discomfort. And the silence didn't last long as they arrived at their destination, "The Naraikos Beach!"

"Hurry along!" Makarov said as he stretched out his arm like an usher at the entrance of the beach. It was like a resort, white sand, the huge blue ocean, and even the typical coconut trees!

Gray and Lucy were so excited, they hurried along into the beach, "I'm going to freeze the whole ocean! We could ice skate!"

"Who'd be excited over something like that!" Lucy roared, "I'm going to enjoy the sun tan, and everyone will admit my cuteness!"

"That's even lamer!" Gray argued, and they went on and on till they reached the seaside. Natsu walked slightly slower to match Erza's speed, both of them were flushed as they walked towards the beach.

"T-Thanks back there." Natsu stuttered.

"My pleasure." Erza replied with a smile, causing Natsu to turn into a grinning Natsu with a flaming tongue.

Natsu grabbed her hand and tugged her along quickly towards their friends, "Lucy! We're here!"

Erza blushed slightly, before waving towards the others as she got dragged along, ex-quipping her beach attire on at the same time.

The guild members enjoyed themselves a great deal, they played ball, they made human sand sculptures, and Natsu even made a sculpture of Happy, although Lucy found it awfully out of shape.

Erza was tired and weary, she did not know why. Maybe she wasn't used to staying under the sun for eight whole hours, and adding upon that, in a bikini.

Her face was scarlet red, and she started to feel feverish. "What's wrong?" Natsu patted her back, "You alright?"

She nodded slowly, raising suspicion among everyone. Despite her firm rejections of having a fever, Natsu scooped her up from below all of a sudden.

He looked down at her with a determined look, "Don't stop me."

Trudging towards a nearby hut, Natsu carried an extremely speechless and feverish Erza and laid her onto a bed nearby. She had ex-quipped an informal white dress, which caught Natsu's attention immediately.

The chair squeaked when Natsu dragged it beside the bed, crossing his arms and pouting horribly.

"Natsu, you should be out there having fun." Natsu shook his head violently, like a small kid.

"No way, I'm going to look after you."

"I'll be fine." Erza said, laying a hand on his lap, not as a sign of affection, but to assure him she was fine.

"Okay." Natsu replied, but continued sitting there.

"Aren't you going out there?"

"Nope."

Erza sighed, and shifted slightly. "Don't move around too much." Natsu said, "It'll be better if I could find some cloth…"

Standing up, Natsu searched around the wardrobes in the room, "Oh wow! It's a noisy knife!!!" He said, grinning widely as he held a shaver towards Erza. She however, had her eyes closed, her face looking so serene and peaceful as she lay on the bed.

"Ahhh, found one." Natsu said to himself. He took the cloth and wet it from the tap, before striding over beside the bed once more, and very carefully, he folded the cloth into a suitable size and put it on her forehead.

"Get well soon." He murmured to her sleeping form. After a moment, he took the cloth and went back into the bathroom to wet it again.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open, "Erza!!!!" Gray screamed.

Natsu, in return, smacked his face with the wet towel, "Keep your voice down you dumb monkey!"

Noticing Erza asleep, Gray decided to listen to Natsu for once.

"Erza!!!!" Lucy cried.

Gray, in return, delivered her a series of pokes as punishment, "Keep your voice down you stupid pig!"

Lucy also noticed Erza sleeping, and decided to listen to Gray for the first time.

"Hey Gray, having a colder towel will mean she gets well faster right?"

Gray and Lucy nodded, "Then… can't you just freeze her?" Natsu asked.

"No way! Are you and idiot?" Lucy replied immediately.

The argument did not last long, and the trio soon dispersed to their personal tasks. Lucy was to find a bucket of water; Gray decided to take over Natsu's job of the sponge bath; and Natsu was going to cook!

The hut had a small kitchen that was well maintained with decent facilities, there were pots, pans, some knives, utensils and a chopping board. Obviously, every kitchen has a stove, so that wasn't needed to be said.

After a few minutes, Lucy found a bucket and filled it with water from the tap, so that Gray didn't have to keep walking back and forth.

Gray repeated the process of cooling the water, re-wetting the towel and putting it on Erza's forehead.

Natsu was desperately trying to start the stove to no avail, and ended up using his own flame to cook. Gathering some carrots, rice and peace from thin air, Natsu had managed to catch a small fish, which he had sliced into neat slices, and after putting the rice into the pot of boiling water, he then proceeded to chop the carrots into small bits and tossed them into the pot as well.

He wiped off some sweat from his forehead and leaned against the door nearby, now he had to wait for a few minutes so the rice would expand and break: meaning porridge!

Erza squeezed her eyes open and mumbled some thanks to Gray for all his help; oblivious to the frustrated eyes that peered out from the small kitchen.

"Natsu's cooking something for you." Gray said.

"I can smell it, smells good, doesn't it?" Erza sniffed the air and smiled contentedly.

"I'm not too sure if it tastes good though." Gray replied, and the two of them burst out laughing.

_Meanwhile_

Natsu saw Gray smile a little and mumble something back to Erza, and they both burst out laughing a little. Natsu sighed sadly; yet never failing to make sure the meal was fine. Turning off his fire, Natsu held the pot up and lobbed the fish slices into the pot of porridge, fish cooks quickly, and soon the fish was all cooked and the porridge was ready!

He took out a bowl from a drawer in the kitchen and poured the porridge into it skillfully, not a single bit of porridge wasted. "Ahhh, it's done."

However, the bowl of porridge was left untouched after he noticed that both Gray and Erza were still conversing. Frowning angrily, he left the hut and hurried over to an empty space that was hidden from view.

Once again, he sat there, day dreaming and staring at the huge, immense sky, hoping to ever find his precious Igneel; both his parent and his friend whom he shared all his secrets with. It was also Igneel who taught Natsu how to cook a few simple human dishes—which was before he started eating fire.

_Meanwhile_

"Sounds like he's done with the cooking." Gray mumbled, he actually wanted to go back to playing beach volleyball with Lucy, who was outside enjoying herself. But nakama came before own desires right?

"Yes, I wonder if he'll feed me." She sniggered at the thought, as the both of them laughed heartily. Unfortunately for Natsu, she caught a small glimpse of him walking out of the door, but failed to notice that he wasn't happy at all, and assumed it was to get something or to play outside.

Sighing to herself, she fell back asleep so that Gray could sneak back to the fun.

Natsu was over the moon with his frustration, not only did Gray steal his—I mean, take his position; he abandoned Erza and went to play! What kind of guild member was that!

Immediately, Natsu scuttled back into the room, heating up the bowl of porridge that was left untouched and went over back to the chair beside the bed silently. Not counting the time he clumsily hit his head on the light bulb that was hanging down or when his shoulder banged into the cupboard when he enter the room.

Holding the bowl in front of his nose to smell it, he suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling to touch Erza's hair. Well, one reason was because it was the same color as his, but it was so long! To Natsu, it was so cool!

Leaving the bowl on the short bedside table beside him, Natsu's hand grasped their own control and began to move towards the hair of the beautiful knight in front of him.

Right before the contact existed, his hand shot back, aware of the brown orbs staring back at him. "Erza! You're awake!" Natsu cried, his mouth open from shock.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked, moving his legs to hide the bowl of porridge, although he had no idea why.

"Aye, I feel much better already. Must be because of the sponge bath that you helped me with." She smiled at him, unaware of his frustration regarding Gray.

"That's Gray for you!" He forced a smile with twitching lips, squinted eyes and shivering eyebrows.

"Now, that's not important," Natsu brightened up for a moment, "Why aren't you having fun out there?" And, Natsu's brightened face didn't last long.

"Because Erza's sick." He said, as if it wasn't Erza he was talking to.

"I thought I said I'd be fine." Erza sighed with a faint smile, "So you were waiting here this whole time?"

"Err… I was preparing something." Natsu said nervously, although he had never felt nervous before, and this was one thing he would never ever get nervous about.

"What is it?" She asked, her pretty earrings glistened for a moment, and Natsu struggled to find a reply.

"What is it?" She hissed, all she wanted was to eat and enjoy his porridge, why was he being so secretive about it?

Natsu turned his head away, trying to subdue his mental nervousness. Successfully, he smiled his stereotype smile and helped Erza sit up against the wall.

"Here," he held out the bowl of porridge, and scooped some porridge with a spoon. Blowing carefully to cool down the porridge, Natsu stretched out his hand towards her mouth, careful not to spill any on her.

His hand shakily went closer to her, the spoon seemed like it would eat anyone up. Erza however, thought well of the gesture, and opened her mouth wide to welcome the spoon of food. She closed her mouth and pressed her two lips onto the spoon when Natsu was pulling it out. Tugging a bit harder, the spoon left her mouth, and Natsu didn't notice the clean spoon, but all he cared for at the moment was her reaction to the meal he made—just for her.

Erza chewed on the warm porridge, it was a settling sensation. Warm and fuzzy, it made her throat feel safe, it made _her_ feel safe. To her surprise, she bit on something soft, like over-cooked potatoes, yet it was sweet and tasty. _Carrots?_

_Fish?!_ She thought, as she bit through some meat like _thing_ that was salty and fresh

_He really put in __a lot of effort…_ and it was only then when she realized that he was staring at her for a comment.

"It tastes great!"

Natsu's face brightened up as he scooped another spoonful of porridge and fed her carefully. They both were extremely happy even though they hadn't joined the others.

Erza felt a special feeling. She couldn't identify whether it was happiness or sadness, regret or whatsoever. She felt warm, jovial, most of all; she felt at ease, she felt safe, peaceful. Memories she had never remembered poured out in her mind clearly, presenting themselves in an organized manner, like a slideshow.

"I remember the last time I came to a beach, I met my old friends." She said to Natsu, who nodded silently while preparing another scoop of porridge.

"You left all of us to fight Gerrard!" Natsu said, stuffing the spoon harshly into Erza's mouth.

Erza smiled faintly, gulping down the warm porridge, "I don't remember apologizing to you after you woke up, so," she said, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for not rushing after you earlier, and being too weak to protect that bandit guy."

"Shimon." Erza correct, "And no need to apologize, at least you saved me from that vortex."

"I remember when we hugged at sea after that." Natsu said, and Erza, who was still chewing on the porridge just bobbed her head.

"Our foreheads touched." Natsu said bluntly, and Erza didn't know how to respond, resulting in another nod.

"You are beautiful, Erza."

Erza wanted to smash Natsu's head upside-down, but noticed that he wasn't trying to be sarcastic or trying to insult her; nor did he understand much of what he just said. Meaning he said it innocently, with no ill-intention, and naturally, Erza couldn't hit someone so innocent—even if it was Natsu.

"I miss Happy, don't' you?" Erza changed the topic, Happy was sick the past few days.

"But he's having constipation…" Natsu sighed, he too really missed his cat companion. Life was rather dull without that blue animal-mage.

Natsu finished scooping the last bits of porridge from the bowl, scraping the last of the drops. Just as the spoon was about to enter her mouth, a light knock on the door was heard.

"Natsu!" The familiar voice of Happy ascended to their ears, "Erza!"

Natsu forced the spoon into her mouth and quickly put the bowl onto the table, "Happy!" He cried, "You're here!"

For a moment, the typical slow-motion, grass patch reunion between lovers happened, and Natsu and Happy hugged each other… happily.

Erza broke the joyful moment, "Happy, how did you get here?"

"I flew!" Happy hummed joyfully. "My constipation's gone! Apparently Natsu's flaming food had too much salt."

"It's not salt!" Natsu defended himself.

"YOU EAT HIS FIRE?!" Erza asked, wide-eyed.

"Of course! And if it wasn't salt… It was your sweat you smelly Natsu!!!"

"Ahh!! Sorry sorry, it's a habit of mine to sweat a lot when I cook!" Natsu replied, dodging Happy's unhappy attacks.

All of a sudden, Erza felt an unnatural urge to puke out everything she just ate, "You SWEAT into my MEAL?!"

Natsu and Happy turned towards a flaming Erza, "No, I didn't!" Natsu said, perspiring and trying desperately to explain his innocence. "I made sure not one drip went in! I promise!"

Natsu backed away slightly, waving his hands in front of himself, "I wouldn't do something like that to Erza anyway."

"That's right, I'm sure I trust Natsu. Although he probably spit inside…" Happy said, and luckily, Erza did not hear the last part.

She sighed and returned back to her peaceful form, "If that's the case, I'll punish you to look after me again tonight!"

Natsu shrieked like a girl when he noticed the evil aura surrounding Erza. Happy totally disappeared from sight, However, the atmosphere soon died down to a more livable one. "I will, I will. It's my pleasure!" Natsu smiled happily and took the bowl back to the kitchen, whistling a random tune to himself.

"He's weird, eh." Happy whispered to her. The cat had flown to rest beside her head now.

"Yes, I've never seen him so weird before." Erza replied, her calm stature failed to cease.

"I thought he was always weird! But I've never seen him cook for someone other than me before." Happy nodded to himself, and Erza concluded that almost all her male companions had a habit of doing that.

"I thought his cooking was superb!"

"Yes! It tastes great right? You should try his flaming food as well!"

"No way!" Erza screeched, covering herself with the thick quilt, which pattern was completely different from the pillow sheets or bed sheets.

"Oh, I stole that from another hut." Natsu clarified as he walked out of the kitchen. After a jiffy of silence, Natsu said to Happy, "Stop disturbing Erza, she just had a fever you know?"

"But you never cook for me anymore! Why do you cook for her?" He said, pouting jealously.

"Err, my cooking isn't that great anyway… Cat food from the pet shops tasted better! That's what you said!" Natsu argued back angrily, although keeping his volume low, aware of the 'sleeping' Erza.

Happy looked unconvinced, "And she's sick!" Natsu said, reinforcing his stand. Happy still looked unhappy, but let the matter pass as he flew out of the hut, shouting back at Natsu, "I'm going to play with Lucy! You can stay in that smelly hut with your precious _lover_!"

"Sheesh, and he even emphasized that word…" Natsu said, mortified, and pulled out a small mattress from under the bed Erza was resting on. "It's not as if we're lovers…"

Sighing heavily, Natsu drooped himself onto the mattress, muttering words that were impossible to understand, just to pass time.

The sun gradually set, and Natsu was terribly hungry. Skipping up, he went out to look for Lucy and Gray, he needed their help now.

* * *

**Well, that's the end of the chapter. Tell me how was it! By now you should know this story is NatsuErza (If you didn't know it from the first chapter, LOL)**

**Random Question #2::Who thinks Fried is actually a good guy?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, I decided so squash everything else into this chapter. Anyway, hope you all like it! =x I'm going on camp tomorrow, so i probably won't be back till thursday, or friday. Hah!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

**Date: 7th December 2008**

* * *

Lucy!" Natsu squat down beside her, "Could you help me do something?"

"Like?" She rolled her eyes, apparently her conversation with Gray was abruptly interrupted by Natsu.

"I'm going fishing, could you two take care of Erza for a while?"

"THANKS!" Natsu turned around and ran towards the ocean, "You two are the best nakama ever!"

"He didn't even wait for an answer…" Gray mumbled.

"He's been in that _hut_ the whole time?!" Lucy and Happy exclaimed before reluctantly heading into the hut together to tend to their one and only Erza.

Natsu reached the hut not long after that, and he had caught a massive menacing looking crab, with pincers (obviously) and huge eyes.

"Look, it looks just like Plue!" Happy pronounced.

"No way! It looks more like Cancer!" The stellar-spirit mage lying down in an indecent posture on Natsu's mattress retorted.

"How does something look like a disease?!"

"You're stupid!"

"What has that got to do with anything!" Happy said. Gray was too busy competing with the crab to see who had the larger eyes, since Gray immediately got annoyed after seeing the crab having such protruding eyeballs.

Natsu couldn't be bothered with such lame talk when his friend was ill. He crouched down silently beside Erza, shaking her shoulder slightly, "Erza."

Erza moaned and shuffled slightly before opening her eyes, "Natsu." She replied.

It was awkward that they both said each others names as if it was a perfect sentence. "What do you want for dinner? Everyone else has eaten." Natsu turned towards the others who were still arguing among themselves, "You guys have eaten already right?"

"You interrupted us!" Lucy howled.

"All because of you, Natsu!" the talking cat joined in the assault on Natsu, who was frowning with his hands at his hips now.

"Although we already finished eating!" Gray said bluntly, "You bastard!"

Ignoring their comments, Natsu returned his attention back to Erza, caring features on his face, "So, what would you like? I'll _try_ to cook it."

"I'm kind of full at the moment, maybe later." Erza said, and disappointment flashed across his face for a moment, before his smile concealed any signs that he felt disappointed at all.

When Natsu went into the kitchen with the crab, the trio on the mattress began to doubt, "He can't kill such a cute crab!" Lucy squealed and brought her two clenched fists up in front of her face, pretending to be the cute crab.

"He'll catch the disease!" Happy cried, tears flowing freely from his eyes, apparently this cat had a serious problem with tears.

Gray however had a different reaction. "Kill the crab.. Kill the crab… Kill the crab…" He chanted over and over again.

To their surprise, Erza sat down beside Happy and Gray, "Erza, you're feeling better?" Gray asked.

"Much better, must be thanks to your sponge bath. Thanks." Erza bent her head slightly in gratitude.

"We all want you to get better soon, Erza, since it's no fun without you." Lucy said, sulking.

"It's no fun without Natsu either…" Happy added.

"Sorry about all this fuss guys, I never wanted to fall sick… But I don't think I'm used to being in a bikini…" Erza said faintly.

Silence triumphed over the conversation for a moment before Natsu could not suppress his aggravation any longer and stomped out of the hut; with the crab. Apparently he had heard every single word that was said.

Erza was first to recover from the shock and stood up quickly to take off after him, but Gray grabbed her wrist tightly, "Leave him be."

But Happy couldn't leave his best friend alone like that, and flew out despite Gray's attempts to stop him.

"He's been so strange lately…" Lucy said sadly, "I want my old Natsu back."

"Since when was he not strange?!" Gray growled.

"He was always happy and energetic, but he seemed so depressed yesterday and today!"

"I thought he was always like that."

"Since when? Even when Erza got hurt last time, he never acted this way!" Lucy snapped.

"That's probably because you didn't know _the house Natsu_." Gray said, and continued after he received wondrous looks of idiocy from Lucy, "The Natsu when he wasn't on missions."

Erza nodded, "Natsu cooked for the guild last time, and everyone knows he cooked well."

"Until…" Gray said, "Until he quarreled with someone, and he never dared to cook for anyone but Happy ever since."

"Who was it?" Lucy interrupted their explanation.

"That…"

"That was me." Erza said, "We were both young then, and I flared up when he cooked a portion of food for me, since I didn't like anyone to come near me then."

"It was all out of good will to help her open up actually, but this… _woman_" Gray said, and Erza glared at him, "Didn't want any of Natsu's niceness and ended up tossing Natsu's signature dish—"

"Crab fried together with dried dill tips and parsley with mushrooms." Erza clarified.

"Ahem." Gray said, calling back all attention, "And ended up tossing his dish on the ground, and poor little Natsu then didn't move an inch. He just stood there like a statue."

"While I walked away without saying a single word." Erza sighed, "I can't believe I did that to him."

"Ahem." Gray was getting impatient, "And since then Natsu has been _too_ kind to Erza, it makes even me feel slightly jealous." He sighed.

"And his porridge tasted so great too, it's the first time I ate his cooking." Erza groaned.

"It's your fault!" Gray howled in disappointment, "No one in Fairy Tail ever tasted his cooking in years because of you!"

"I never imagined Natsu was such a person last time…" Lucy murmured, "And to think Erza was so mean in the past."

"I didn't do it on purpose, and I didn't mean to hurt him at all!" Erza defended.

"You didn't even apologize!"

Erza was stunned, "I really didn't," she said, "maybe he's still angry because of that."

"Don't be stupid, Erza. How long have you known Natsu?"

"He won't be angry for years over something so… small." Lucy finished.

"Small?!" Gray asked, "He has been scarily nice to Erza ever since then and you say it's something small?"

"That's one thing I don't understand…" Erza and Gray said at the same time. They glared at each other momentarily and turned away as if nothing happened. "Why he's been that way."

"I know why…" The two female mages turned towards a now very serious sounding Gray, "Because, Erza…"

Erza swallowed some saliva that was stuck in her throat, "You are special to him…"

"You have red hair like him!" Gray exclaimed, only to be hit in the head by an extremely pissed off Lucy.

"Stop making us anxious over stupid things like that!" Lucy said.

"I wanted to make some food for Erza using your meat, oh little crab." Natsu said sadly taking a glance back at the hut, as if he could see through the walls and into the hut.

The crab looked back at him as if he understood, and snapped it's pincers slightly, but not aggressively, "She doesn't like my food…"

It shook it's head slightly, as if trying to deter Natsu's thoughts, "It's the same as last time, she hates me." Natsu growled, "Am I really such a bad person? The porridge probably didn't taste good at all."

The crab's eyes rolled slightly, as if sympathizing with the flame mage for a while, "That's why she thanked Gray for his _thing_ and never even said a word of thanks to me!" Natsu swore loudly.

"That's why she looked as if she ate the porridge, she was obliged to since she didn't want me to be sad! That bastard Gray…" Natsu said softly.

The crab clambered down Natsu's thigh and onto the sand. Facing Natsu, it tilted it's head slightly and calmly. Finally, it dawned upon him, "No, it's not because of Gray. It's because I'm not good enough."

"I cook like an idiot, I talk like an idiot, and I'm only useful when it comes to fighting. And Erza's even stronger than me in that aspect. I'm not good enough…" He trailed off, trying to stifle his urge to yell as loud as he could, but the others would hear him.

"Igneel!" He cried out, "I miss you… If only you were still here, you could help me get better!"

"You could help me become good enough! You could teach me more magic, teach me how to cook better, teach me that weird thing I suck at—grammar, yes, that thing."

Happy stood a distance away from Natsu, seeing his best friend howl into the night air wasn't a wonderful sight. Happy knew that Natsu was just releasing what he had been repressing all the time, the hurt he felt when Erza treated him badly, and he couldn't help but treat her well.

Natsu slammed his fists into the sand, creating several miniature sand storms that disturbed the crab companion of his. Natsu soon lay panting on the ground, perspiring from the mental onslaught and emotional distress.

"I'm so tired…" Natsu groaned, and fell flat on the ground, his arms stretched out wide by his side, creating _butterfly wings_. "Crabby, I remember I thought Erza looked more dazzling than a butterfly last time."

Crabby nodded knowingly as Natsu continued his ramblings, "Her cool red hair, beautiful brown eyes, and she keeps putting a strong front. Someone needs to protect her…"

"And that would be you, wouldn't it?" Happy interrupted.

"Happy!" Natsu exclaimed, shocked that his cat-friend was here. He soon recovered from surprise, "Yes, I want to do that. But I'm not good enough…"

"That's not true!" Happy demanded.

"Then why isn't she saying thanks! Why does she talk so happily to everyone else but me!" Natsu yelled loudly, "She hates me!"

"I don't think so," Happy said in a comforting tone, placing a small hand onto Natsu's shoulder, "She treats you so well, you know."

Natsu's eye perked out of their holders for a second, as the message of a lack of understanding finally breached Happy's mental walls, "Have you seen Erza request someone to take care of her except you?"

He thought about it for a while, before shaking his head with a light suppressed smile, and Happy continued, "She's never dressed in a white dress; and extremely short as well in front of anyone except you."

Natsu nodded defenselessly, "And I'm sure you find her form pleasing too." He hid his blush in futile attempts, only to nod, mortified.

"Don't have to act that way around me, I'm sure every guy would gawk at her amazing body anyway." Happy winked devilishly, and Natsu chased him around, his worries long forgotten.

Regarding the crab, Mr. Crabby already left back to the ocean, unable to sustain Natsu's rants any longer.

Happy managed to convince Natsu to go back, and Natsu grudgingly agreed, despite his burning stomach.

Natsu and Happy arrived back in the hut to find Gray and Lucy already out, when asked, Erza just said that they wanted to make a campfire. "And they left you here alone…" Natsu growled in response.

Either way, Happy flew out immediately, saying he had some kerosene to add to the campfire, although that was a complete lie. Natsu wasn't aware that Happy was trying to give him a chance to talk to Erza alone, but he had always been unaware of such things.

He tried to strike a conversation, but he was still embarrassed from the earlier conversation with Happy and did not know how to start. In the end, it was the common, "Are you hungry?"

Erza pondered for a moment, "I am quite hungry now, actually." Erza flashed a beautiful smile, "You'll cook for me again, right?"

Natsu beamed immediately and replied heartily, "Of course! What would you like to eat?"

Erza was thinking of the greatest delicacies she ever tasted or wanted to taste, and they all came to her mind quickly, "I've always wanted to try Italian Pastas or the Baked Rice from the western world…" she said softly, afraid that her request may be too much.

"I'll prepare both for you!" Natsu sang, and rushed into the kitchen, the sounds of pots and pans clanging onto each other, or the table was heard, and soon the wonderful aroma of food trailed out at the bed.

Erza cuddled under the blanket in the cold room, hoping she had power to make a fire as well, or be near the campfire, but her thoughts always led back to Natsu. "He's such a kid." She said aloud.

"I heard that!" Natsu yelled from the kitchen, followed by a low growl.

Erza chuckled genially, "Okay, I'll lower my volume!"

_He's really capable. He can cook, he can fight, he can take care of me when I'm ill—I mean, take care of anyone when their ill, he can crack jokes, he can be serious, and most of all, he can be really strong, like a knight._

_Although out of all those, I doubt he could do any on a vehicle._ Erza laughed to herself once more, the melodious echoes of her mirth threatening to knock Natsu into a state of high as well.

After a few more minutes, Natsu emerged from the kitchen, two plates in each hand, and he drifted beside the bed, "No sweat or spit, I promise." He smiled.

Erza leaned up once again, and Natsu noticed her shivering hands. "You're cold, aren't you? I could help you a little, if you don't mind waiting…"

He turned Erza so that her back was facing him and was about to start whatever he was planning when suddenly stopped, and Erza felt him stop, "What's wrong?"

"My hands, I haven't washed them after I finished cooking." He stated and winced, before rushing into the kitchen and washed his hands.

Natsu appeared from the kitchen soon enough, and Erza was close enough to devour the innocent-looking pasta and baked rice. She turned away so her back faced Natsu once more, and she caught him looking at his hands from the corner of her eye, "Still dirty?"

"Ermm, not really." He said, "It wasn't very dirty just now either."

"Then why did you have to make me wait while you washed your hands!" Erza whined, she felt playful now; it could be the moon that addled her mind.

"I would've dirtied your dress!" Natsu argued, "So much for good intention."

Erza remained silent as Natsu laid his two palms on her back, the warmth seeping through. It was a terrific sensation that removed the coldness; and her mouth gave way as she let out a satisfying moan.

_I made a sound._ Erza thought in horror, but received no response from Natsu. The process ended after a few minutes, and Erza was feeling perfectly comfortable, save a slight dampness on back—which she ignored.

"Feel better?" Natsu enquired, while offering spoon of baked rice.

"Much better."

She had told Natsu she could eat on her own, but he refused to hand her the plate of baked rice. Erza couldn't identify certain ingredients, and no one, yes, not even the author knew where he got the ingredients.

She decided that not knowing what it was, and just knowing that it tasted good would be better than knowing what it actually was. "Jellyfish, I fried it with Juniper, tastes good?"

"Very good." Erza mumbled before opening her mouth for more. He hooted softly and fed her spoon by spoon, and Erza felt like a princess, being served so sincerely.

Soon, Erza had finished both dishes, and Natsu suspiciously hid his left hand in front of him and turned towards the kitchen with the dishes in one hand, and Erza squinted her eyes in notion.

Natsu finished clearing up the dishes, and went out to find Erza, once more, asleep. Sighing heavily, Natsu dumped himself onto the bed heavily, tired from the day's activities. "I haven't cooked so much in centuries!"

"And I didn't receive any 'thanks' as well. Maybe she really hates me." He whispered to himself, Natsu felt that he could think better if he spoke aloud, albeit softly.

"If only she wasn't sick," Natsu murmured with a red face, "I always enjoyed being by the seaside with her."

"Oh, that's because…" Natsu started to talk even softer as if afraid the sleeping figure could hear him in her sleep, "She looks good in a bikini."

"No, that's not all, I liked to play volleyball with her!" Natsu said happily, "And I used to pick seashells with her, but she soon grew too old for that."

"Of course I still keep them. But you better not tell anyone!" After a short pause, Natsu continued, "I'm angry all right, she said thanks to Gray and everyone, but not me! And I even cooked for her twice!" Natsu spoke as if he was conversing with someone and that was an awkward experience even to someone as weird as himself.

He sighed again, and noticed he was doing that a lot, "I'm so tired, I guess all the _taking care of the sick_ has made me tired. And all this weird thinking thing, and thinking about thinking is all making me think hard just to think!" Natsu exclaimed in a soft tone, and clutched his bandaged finger in his sleep.

"Grrr." His stomach rumbled in exasperation, seeming to scream out _He didn't even feed me, and he fed that stomach?!_ And the stomach points at Erza.

All of a sudden, he was asleep, but he didn't snore; Erza was sleeping as well—he thought.

She climbed over to the other side of the bed and reaching down; she caressed his cheeks and mumbled, "I don't hate you, not one bit. You must be so tired after all that, poor boy."

She giggled softly, playing around with his hair for a moment before pulling herself back onto the bed, "Thank you for everything you've done, Natsu."

So the sun set, and the sun rose, although Plue was trying to stop the moon from disappearing, and even jumped into the sea to attempt to touch the moon.

Natsu woke up and yawned as forcefully as he could, and shot a suspicious look towards Erza, who was awake, and was looking at him as well.

To any stranger, the two people inside the hut must have been some form of solid idiocy after seeing the two burst out laughing in spite of the awkward situation.

They had just finished taking turns to wash up when Lucy and Gray burst into the door, "Erza!!!" They yelled in unison, only to find her wrapped in a towel, just out of the bath.

They turned and glared at each other for a brief moment before Erza smiled softly, "Good morning."

"Good morning!" Happy cried out from behind Gray and Lucy, "Let's go to the beach today!"

"Beach!!!" Yelled an echoing voice from the bathroom, and Natsu rushed out with a tower wrapper around his lower body.

"Don't tell me…" Lucy's face wrenched itself into distortion, "You two bathed together?!"

Natsu and Erza's eyes bulged out enormously; "NO WAY!" was the response from the blushing pair.

"Just kidding, just kidding!" Lucy waved her hands in front of her defensively, and Natsu rushed into the kitchen for unknown reasons, only to get yelled at by several impatient creatures by the door.

"I'll go get him." Erza winked and entered the kitchen. Silence prevailed for a moment, before a startling scream broke the silence, "AHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Erza rushed out of the kitchen with fearful eyes, her _juice_ leaking out of her skin. Soon Natsu also rushed out of the same kitchen, his towel gone and replaced by a pants.

"I know what happened…" Gray murmured, "Natsu just stripped in front of Erza."

"Erza I'm sorry!" Natsu pleaded, his eyes trying to hide behind it's sockets in prediction of Erza's murderous aura.

"I didn't know you were coming in, and I kind of fumbled slightly so it took a little longer…"

"It's not that, you idiot!" Erza cried, "Where's your FINGER?!"

And everyone screamed, even Natsu.

"My finger?" He said peculiarly. No answer.

"My finger?!" He said even louder, and yet, there was no response.

"What's wrong with my finger?" He mumbled and lifted his two hands in front of him and noticed that the tip of his index finger was missing, it was disgusting.

The flesh was gone, the nail had been halved, and yet no blood seeped out. "What happened" Gray asked, stretching his body to see the wound.

Lucy and Erza kept their eyes closed, afraid of seeing it. "Oh, I cut it yesterday." He said and let out a nervous 'haha'.

"Why would someone chop off his own finger?! You dumbass Natsu!" Gray scolded, and Natsu went over to the two girls crouching by the door, eyes closed.

"Erza?" He asked in a kind voice, "I'm sorry."

In the blink of an eye, Erza slapped Natsu across the face, "Why didn't you tell me!"

His eyes hidden by his hair, Natsu replied, "It wasn't even painful, and we were having so much fun together."

"You should've told me! I could've eaten on my own, and I didn't even need you to feed me in the first place!" Erza raged on, "You were hurt!"

Natsu let out a short stifle, "Never more than now." He whispered, and ran outside the hut once again, and as before, Happy chased.

Gray and Lucy finally overcame their laziness and took out their footwear and entered the hut, gathering around the saddened Erza.

"He'll be fine." Gray consoled, "Don't worry about him."

Erza nodded slightly and said, "I'm fine too, and I said something bad to him again…"

The other two said nothing as they knew it was true, "I didn't really mean it, I was just so angry at that time, I wasn't thinking straight."

"And just yesterday night I decided to thank him properly for everything… And I wanted to go to the beach today to play together, but that won't happen now."

"We can still go to the beach, you know." Lucy smiled, "Cheer up! I promise we'll play together the whole day!"

Shooting an assertive look at Gray, they nodded to each other and ran out of the hut, "Don't worry, Erza, we'll handle it!"

And Erza fell back onto her bed; staring at the spot Natsu was asleep. The bed had little blots of red, "It must've hurt so much…" she murmured.

_**Never more than now.**_

She recalled his words, did she really hurt him that much?

_**And I didn't receive any 'thanks' as well. Maybe she really hates me.**_

Her heart immediately let her feel the pain of regret, _and he even said that as well… and he probably hadn't even eaten since yesterday…_

She felt another pang of guilt shoot through her body; _I can't believe I noticed it only this morning…_

Then it dawned upon her—that was the _dirt _Natsu was referring to, and did not want to dirty her gown.

_**You**__** are beautiful, Erza.**_

She could not forget that line. Surely there were many beautiful girls in their guild; Mirajane, Lucy, Levi were all beautiful, and Erza had also felt that they were far more beautiful than her.

Either way, she _must_ apologize to Natsu.

_Meanwhile_

Natsu lay down on the beach, staring up at the sky. The sun wasn't too bright yet, and Natsu could stare at it with his bare eyes. The brightness started to make him tear, "Don't cry, Natsu!"

Happy appeared by his side, a worried look on his face, "It's the sun!" Natsu retorted. Happy left it at that and lied down beside him.

They looked like photocopies of each other, but one was a cat and one was human. "Hey, Happy… Am I bad at feeding people?"

"I don't think so." Happy replied.

The waves crashed against some nearby breakwaters and Natsu let out a huge sigh, "I wonder why Erza hates me so much…"

"I don't know either."

_**I didn't even need you to feed me in the first place!**_

"Maybe I should just pretend nothing ever happened, Happy."

"Pretend what never happened?"

"Pretend I don't know anyone, and you and I could go out and venture the world!" He grinned happily, while Happy just shook his head slowly.

"I don't think that's good… You wouldn't want to let go of your nakama right?"

"But I did so much for Erza… I didn't go out to play, I chopped off my finger accidentally, I even went to dive for jellyfish!" Natsu exclaimed, "And now everyone probably knows how I feel about her… They'll tease me."

"So it's all about your personal reputation?" Happy sighed.

"No, that's not it. I mean, it hurts enough when she didn't appreciate it, and when everyone, including Erza starts teasing me about what I tried to do…"

"It just hurts…" Happy finished off, receiving a satisfied nod from Natsu.

"My chest hurts so much now, you know?" Natsu breathed a deep breath, "Every time I suck air—"

"Breathe." Happy corrected.

"Every time I breathe, it hurts so much, Happy." Natsu almost let out a tear, "It hurts…"

Happy was at a loss for words, he didn't know how to console Natsu now. Perhaps Gray or Lucy could do it, since cats don't really care much about love matters…

"ARGHHH!!!" Natsu let out a desperate cry as loud as he could, "That felt better…"

"Natsu!" A cry that Natsu detected as Gray's was heard, "We've been looking all over for you!"

Gray and Lucy were perspiring and panting heavily, "Yea, Natsu, what's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing's wrong, nothings wrong." Natsu said and pushed himself upright, walking away.

"You can't keep hiding from us, Natsu!" Gray called out, "We know all about you and Erza!"

"Shut up!" Natsu yelled, "You know nothing about me, bastard. I helped her so much, but she's still angry at me!"

"She's not angry!"

"Liar! Damn this world!" Natsu shouted, and ran even further away.

The three left were sighing their lungs out, "What about our promise to Erza?" Lucy enquired.

"I have no idea…"

Happy was left thinking about what promise it was.

_Meanwhile_

_I hope Lucy and Gray can bring him __back; I need to apologize to him._ Erza thought, heading out of the hut in her beach-wear, striding along the coast. She could discern several people quite a distance away. _That's Master and Droy._

_Where__'s Natsu?_ She walked the opposite direction, and spotted a lone figure standing at the very edge of a spit, an obvious red-head and a checkered scarf._ Natsu_.

When she was closer, Natsu was already exhausted, and was sitting down on the sediments of the spit. His eyes were red and wet, and as if someone was looking, he wiped the tears off hastily, the blob of flame in his mouth was still bright, and Erza felt it was similar to a welcoming sign, and without question, her body moved beside him on it's own.

Natsu turned to look at her so quickly that his head may have dropped off if Natsu didn't turn back almost immediately after that, and Erza barely caught a hazy image of Natsu's shocked face.

As always, the two remained silent for a moment, and Natsu breathed hard through his nose that the mucus was sucked back into the nose passage instead of flowing out of the nostrils, and produced a gurgling sound.

"Erza!" He turned towards her and grinned, "What are you doing here at a time like this?"

She remained silent for a moment and realized that he was trying to avoid arguing anymore. In an instant, she said, "I was just out for a walk."

A simple "oh" of acknowledgement was the reply.

Natsu turned to look at Erza, "I'm sorry." he blurted out quickly, before looking away again, in the opposite direction.

Erza's eyes softened as she replied with a very caring smile, "It's my fault, Natsu… I wanted to thank you for the meal and everything, but…"

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise and the size of his eyes gradually returned to normal when he calmed down. "It's my fault; I knew I shouldn't have dirtied your gown."

Erza suddenly felt guilty for being angry at someone so simple-minded, but couldn't resist letting out a soft giggle.

Natsu smiled after seeing Erza being happy, "We could just pretend nothing happened right? I mean, I was so bad to you while you were sick and that's why you were angry. Forgive me?"

"I was the one who was bad to you," Erza squabbled, "you did so many things but I never said a single word of thanks."

Natsu shook his head in disagreement, but couldn't think of a way to display his argument.

"Let's just pretend nothing happened?" Natsu said again.

Erza closed her eyes for a while, thinking deeply, and Natsu peered at her face for brief moments, as if afraid she may open her eyes anytime. That eventually happened, "I can't forget it Natsu," His eyes cringed in fearful anticipation, "I mean, I really treasure you after this whole thing and I don't want to forget anything because I've really started to…"

The rest of the sentence was left unfinished as both their faces were dyed red and neither dared to admit that they knew what was going to be said.

Natsu however, was too proud to allow the girl to make the first move, and he would actually die from embarrassment if Gray were to somehow find out that Erza was the one who confessed.

"I love you." Natsu said it out sternly, and he heaved a sigh of relief, "I FINALLY SAID IT!"

"I love you." Natsu said again, in a happier tone, and looked surprise himself.

"I love you, Erza Scarlet." He said, grinning like a mad man.

"Natsu…" Erza giggled, and her hand into his hand which warped around her hand tenderly, as if he finally held onto something he always wanted to hold.

Feeling a little more casual and light, he said, "By the way Erza, have I ever told you that you're really sexy?"

Her face burned as she playfully nudged him on the shoulder and slid the strap off her shoulder, "Oh?"

Natsu slid the strap back over her shoulder and murmured, "I wouldn't mind as long as it was me."

And Erza could resist no longer, pressing her lips against his as they shared their first and fullest kiss since… the snoring season. They pulled apart, panting and smiling happily.

After moments of enjoyment in the silence, the couple went back to the _real world_ and played their lives out, they were finally, after a long while, back to normal.

At the end of the trip, a certain stellar spirit mage and ice mage was left to wonder what actually happened when they both gathered around a single table at a corner. "I bet it's all because of the snore."

"It _is_ because you made a big fuss out of the snore!" Gray howled.

"Now it's my fault?" Lucy growled in return.

"Get away from me, I'm tired!" Gray said, with a care-free look on his face, "I'm going to sleep."

And all of a sudden his head fell onto the table and he fell asleep, leaving Lucy fuming with impatience and anger. "Look at those two lovebirds." Lucy mumbled jealously, seeing Natsu and Erza sitting by the bar, chatting happily.

The whole guild fell silent immediately after a familiar sound wrecked the building. A high-pitched growl-like sound that had the same frequency as a drop of... faeces dropping into the toilet bowl. "Did Gray just SNORE?!" Natsu roared.

* * *

**A/N: So how was it?! Tell me!  
And, Fried seems so freaking strong. I wonder who's gonna take him on. And I'm sure mistgun is soooo gonna pwn some ass. : D Hope you all liked the chapter~ I'm currently working on my Inheritance Cycle fanfic (It's around..1/10th done)  
Currently 12461 words; and it's around 1/10th done.. But since I'm kind-of lazy, I may always shrink it and everything. ._. And it WAS supposed to be a one=shot.**

**But**** no one would read a 125000 word long one-shot. LOL**

**Happy holidays dear readers, have a Blessed Christmas, and may God bless you all! ^.^**


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